Borders Thinking

Owl story I

Not much walking in April because of work commitments. Instead the spring highlight was the local owl family. In early March, I was  in the woodstore at the end of the barn when I heard a scrabbling behind a wooden panel attached to the corrugated iron sheeting (the barn is shell of iron and wood and just about still standing). I expected to see a squirrel clamber out, instead with a lot of effort a tawny owl gradually pulled itself out of the narrow gap and then took off out the doorway.  Over the next few weeks we saw the same sight several times, and hoped that there was a nest there. We tried not to disturb it but he or she (or both) seemed to get used to us going in and out and just flew off without too much panic.

We also saw the owls much more regularly during the day. In late-April, we watched this  owl hunting from  a fence post in the garden. He stayed there for at least 15 minutes, even while I was taking photographs.